Child sex offenders to face five years jail for secret name change

Kirsty Needham

Child sex offenders who change their name without permission to avoid scrutiny, face five years in prison under toughened child protection laws.

Under a bill introduced by Police Minister Stuart Ayres, the child protection register will also be widened to capture not only child sex offenders and murderers, but also any adult convicted of intentionally wounding or causing grievous bodily harm to a child under 10.

This includes parents or carers convicted for "shaking" their baby, a spokeswoman for Mr Ayres said.

Notorious paedophile Dennis Ferguson was twice caught using a false name to sell charity toys and biscuits to the public, for Diabetes Australia and the RSPCA, before his death.

The second incident, at Circular Quay in July 2012, came four months after NSW Parliament passed laws designed to make it more difficult for offenders to secretly change their official name.

Now penalties will be significantly increased, from $550 to $55,000, or five years prison, under sweeping changes to the child protection register.

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Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston said the NSW government had made a "spring clean" of child protection laws to shut down loopholes exposed by the courts, which she welcomed.

"What we don't want is offenders changing their name because they fall under the radar," she said. "Five years prison will be a deterrent to anyone. Let's hope it works."

Offenders such as Ferguson had shown "they will do anything to get access to children or places where children gather", she said.

But Ms Johnston said charities and community groups also needed to be vigilant in screening volunteers.

NSW Children's Guardian Kerryn Boland said she supported expanding the register to include adults who have wounded a child, because these offenders were already disqualified from working with children under government checks.

The NSW Attorney-General's department had opposed the inclusion of wounding.

Shaken baby syndrome expert Sue Foley, who works with the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, previously told The Sun-Herald that registering parents convicted of shaking a baby was "over the top" because it was often an isolated incident.

But a Wollongong mother of a five-month-old baby, who suffered permanent disability after being shaken by a babysitter, has previously said she welcomed any move to register baby shakers because it would protect other families.

The babysitter was convicted in 2011.

Offenders listed on the register are compelled to report to police their whereabouts, employment, email addresses and computer log-ins, phone and car licence numbers, and travel plans. This will be expanded to include car hire details and mobile phone numbers.

Regular contact with children, defined as caring for a child, visiting a house where a child is present, exchanging contact details or attempting to befriend a child, must also be reported under the new law, which covers email and internet exchanges.

The new law will allow courts greater discretion in dealing with teenagers aged under 18, after concern that consensual sexual activity, and "sexting", between minors could be caught by the law.

The age of the victim and offender will be taken into account before a registration order is made.

A review had found the penalties for offenders changing their name without the permission of the Commissioner of Police were low compared with other penalties for giving false information, the spokeswoman for Mr Ayres said.